I'll Protect You
by KiraIzazuma
Summary: After ten years of being apart can Ashley and Spencer overcome everything, including their own fear?
1. Chapter 1

"I do." And with that the priest declared them man and wife. The women smiled as she leaned forwards to kiss her husband. The crowd stood up, applauding the newlyweds. The bride turned to her right and hugged one of her bridesmaids. She then turned back to her husband and they walked hand in hand out the church doors.

After the ceremony everyone arrived at the reception to continue the festivities. It was held in the Carlin's backyard which was basically a large stretch of land on their farm. The band onstage played music while couples old and young danced along.

"Paula I'm so happy for you!" her friend latched onto her giving the new bride a monstrous hug. Paula, taken off guard by this, was sent spiraling onto the floor. Both of the women laughed and helped each other to their feet. For as long as they could remember Paula Carlin and Carla Davies had been best friends. Now Paula was remarrying and Carla was moving to L.A. They would soon be separated for the first time in their lives.

"Promise you'll come visit, aw how am I going to survive without you?" Paula cried as she clung tightly to her friend. Off in the distance a young blonde haired girl was slowly backing up towards a tree, three boys stood in front of her.

"Come on Spencer what're you so scared off? Just kiss him, you'll like it!" one of the boys teased as they backed the ten year old girl against the tree. She shoved one backwards and stuck her tongue out.

"Yeah right like I would want to kiss ANY of you! Go away before-"

"Before what? You can't do anything to us stupid you're a girl! Now just shut up," one of the older boys, he looked to be twelve, said as he pinned her against the tree. The other two complained and called turns after he was done. Spencer struggled but the boy was much stronger then she was, he had a hold of her wrists and his body pinned her tightly in place. Tears fell down her face as he licked his lips and inched his face forwards. Spencer closed her eyes and waited for it to be over but just then a sharp crack and the boy's scream filled the air.

Opening her eyes Spencer felt the weight disappear and the hands on her wrist let go. The boy holding her had fallen to the ground; he clutched his head where a rather large gash appeared.

"You little punks are disgusting, what the heck is wrong with you?!" a very angry brunette shouted as she landed a hard kick to the older boys ribs. The other two raced forwards to help their friend but were met with a punch in the face each. Seconds later they ran away back to the reception. The brunette sighed then flinched and examined her right hand, the punches hurt like no other!

"Ash, are you okay?" suddenly she was reminded that Spencer was behind her. Turning around Ashley sat down and she took Spencer's hands into her own. Her wrists were slightly bruised and other then the emotion damage she seemed to be fine.

"I'm fine Spence, they got lucky. I was going to do so much more to them; I can't believe they'd pick on you like that. I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. To her surprise Spencer's hands softly wrapped around her own.

"You're always protecting me you know that? Every time I needed you you're always there, I don't know how to thank you," she said flashing her genuine Spencer smile. Ashley couldn't help but smile back. The two had been friends since they could remember due to the fact that their mothers were best friends. Ashley was two years older then Spencer but the two couldn't think of a time they were ever apart.

Both never voiced it but they had no interest in boys and always found company in each other. Spencer was still a bit young to be thinking too much into that sort of thing but Ashley had been thinking about it for awhile now. The announcement that she and her mother would be moving devastated them both. Sitting beneath the large tree both girls looked down at the happy reception taking place.

"I take it your mom told you about us moving and that's why you're not down there celebrating with them?" Ashley asked as she turned to her best friend. She was taken back seeing that tears were threatening to escape her eyes.

"You should have been the one to tell me…" Spencer said as she sat forward away from her, hurt clearly in her voice," but instead you disappear for a whole week and let me find out like this…"

"…Spence I'm so sorry, I didn't know what to do. When mom told me…I was so angry at her. I didn't think it was fair. It wasn't the best thing to ignore you for a whole week I'm sorry, I just couldn't stand the thought of not being around you anymore…" she heard Spencer sigh and was surprised once more as the younger girl leaned back into Ashley, her hands reached over and laced themselves with hers.

"…it's not fair…" Ashley sighed agreeing with her. It wasn't.

The days went by and Ashley and Spencer avoided talking about the move anymore then they had to. Both would hang out everyday, away from Ashley's house where everything was being packed. Ohio didn't have much in the way of entertainment but living in the country where the girls did had its perks.

Both sat in silence on the grass, their toes dipped into the small stream. This was there hideaway when reality just got to be too much. Moving day was tomorrow.

"You know I'm going to come and visit right? Every chance I get," Ashley said as she tossed a small pebble into the water.

"Ash, please don't make promises you might not be able to keep…" Spencer turned to face her as Ashley placed her hands on top of her own.

"Spencer I swear…" Spencer smiled and moved closer, their foreheads slightly touching. She let herself believe it to be true, that Ashley would come visit, that she wouldn't completely disappear out of her life. Little did she know that she wouldn't see Ashley again until eight years later.


	2. Chapter 2

Ashley smiled, tonight she had put little effort into finding someone, they came to her. The second she entered the club someone had offered to buy her a drink. How kind yet incredibly stupid of them, they had no idea what they were getting into. Most of the girls at the club already knew what Ashley was about and tended to avoid her whenever possible. It wasn't that Ashley was heartless, she just didn't do relationships. It was just less complicated that way, to much emotional attachment came with committing to someone else. She learned long ago that the more you opened yourself to someone the more hurt you would be. She soon developed the mentality that no one would ever get that close to her ever again.

Breaking herself from thought she examined the girl in front of her. She was cute enough, nothing really special. Didn't really matter, she only needed her for one thing. After a couple shots the girl was already out of it, lightweight. Still she smiled to herself; it was just far too easy.

"Spencer!! We're all waiting on you, hurry it up! Stop checking out girls," Glen shouted into the bathroom then walked away grinning. Inside the bathroom Spencer looked around to find several eyes on her. Cursing Glen silently she vowed to make him pay for it later on. She quickly dried her hands aware of the eyes that were still on her. Opening the door with one hand she turned back around and glared," What?! Never seen a gay person before?" And with that she left with a smile on her face but then frowned as she soon realized she had no idea where she was going. Again she cursed Glen for being a total jackass. She sighed and tried to quickly find her gate. After several minutes of trying though she realized it was pointless and stopped in defeat.

"Are you lost?" a soft laughter brought Spencer out of her thoughts. Looking to the table to her left she saw a girl her age sitting there.

"Am I that obvious?" Spencer asked a slight blush appearing on her face. Her eyes scanned the girl; she wasn't to bad looking…not at all. Her blush grew even more when she saw the girl notice what she was doing.

"You were walking back and forth in the same direction for the past ten minutes, it amused me greatly to watch," the girl smiled. Oh my that smile.

"Yeah…I have no idea where I'm going."

"What's the gate number?" the girl asked as she got up and placed her backpack on.

"Gate 27-B, my family and I are moving to L.A., you really don't have to help I'm sure I'll eventually find it," Spencer said but the girl walked over to her anyways.

"It's fine, I can't in all good conscience let a cute girl like yourself wander around aimlessly," she winked and started towards the gate. Spencer looked up and smile, this girl was definitely scoring some points.

"Hey wait up, I never got your name," Spencer asked as she caught up with her. There was something so familiar about her; she couldn't put her finger on it. The girl smiled and turned around.

"The name's Kyla."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name's Spencer."

"Oh believe me Spencer, the pleasure's all mine."

Waking up Ashley placed a hand on her alarm clock and threw it onto the ground where came to an immediate silence. She cursed herself for even setting it. Monday mornings were a bitch. Especially if since her whole weekend involved drinking, meaningless but mind blowing sex, more drinking then more sex. Her head pounded like no other and she was beyond tired. Laying back down she looked to her left at the girl who was still sleeping. She looked peaceful while she slept and you'd never guess that this innocent looking blonde haired girl had done several non innocent things that weekend. Laying there like that Ashley thought, she reminded her of-no one…she cursed out loud this time and quickly got up out of bed. Minutes later the girl was out the door with no clue as to what in the hell just happened.

_Well done Davies, another one successfully fucked then gotten rid of_

Her head was just fucking with her now and she decided a shower was needed to wash away the weekend's activities. Stepping into her bathroom she removed all of her clothes and turned the water on. She ran a hand through her hair and stared off into space, why now...why now of all times did she have to randomly come into her thoughts.

After finishing in the shower Ashley walked back into her room and was less then amused to find her mother sitting in a chair near her closet.

"I just saw another one of your playthings crying as she left the house. Really Ashley couldn't you be a bit more human about it and at least walk them to the front door, this one wasn't even clothed!" Ashley frowned, that's right, she had kicked this one out so fast that she didn't even get a chance to put her clothes back on. She shrugged; at least she had one of the bedroom sheets. It was her fault for reminding her of-goddamnit Ashley shut the hell up.

"Are you even listening?" her mother's voice finally entered her head again. Ashley scoffed and went into her closet to find clothes.

"Well I was saying I'm having a business party today and-"

"Forget it I'm not going to one of those things ever again, they're so fucking boring," Ashley cringed as she pulled a shirt off a hanger. Ashley's mom stood up and folded her arms across her chest.

"Well you seem to forget you have little choice. You're still under my watch until you're 21. Just be ready soon, I'm going to pick up your sister from the airport." And with that she left. Ashley sat down and stared into a picture that sat on the desk next to her closet. Her father had died eight years ago, only several months after her mother and her had moved to L.A. She was devastated and no one was there for her, not even…anyways her mother seemed to change after that. A couple months after the funeral her sister appeared at their house. In her father's will it stated that they were all to live together. Ashley and her sister would each be granted their inheritance once they were 21(he believed only then were they mature enough to handle it) and their mother would be given a generous fee for keeping them together until then.

Ashley sighed; at least her sister would be home soon. The younger girl was the only one the brunette had opened herself to all these years, the only one she trusted. Finally finding an outfit Ashley changed and prepared for the long day ahead.

"Whoa it's freaking hot here," Glen said as the whole family dragged their luggage out of the airport. Paula and their stepfather Ben went to see if they could find a car or cab.

"Hello again," Spencer turned around to see Kyla walking over to her. She had disappeared after showing Spencer the gate.

"Kyla?! Oh my god I didn't realize you were going to L.A. too," Spencer smiled, what a sweet coincidence she thought to herself.

"Yeah I live her, my mom should be picking me up soon. Listen I know we both just meet and everything but my mom is having this party tonight. Maybe you and your family would like to come? It'll give them a chance to get acquainted with people here," she then leaned in to whisper in Spencer's ear," We could also get to know each other a little." Pulling back she smiled seeing Spencer blushing once more.

"Uh yeah that sounds great," she smiled as Kyla entered her cell number into Spencer's phone. A car horn sounded and Kyla looked up.

"That's my mom, give me a call ok? I'll see you later," Kyla smiled as she leaned forward and gave Spencer an innocent peck on the cheek then walked over to her car. Turning around Spencer sighed; L.A. was going to be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

"Spencer how well do you even know this girl?" Ben asked. They had arrived at their new home and were beginning to unpack basic items. Their other things would be arriving within the week.

"We kind just now met at the airport but she's really nice. Besides it's not like we have any else to do, all this unpacking is boring after awhile," Spencer whined as she put several cups and plates away.

"Yeah for once I'll agree with her, a party sounds nice," Glen said as he bounced a basketball around the kitchen floor. After a warning glare from Ben he stopped and went over to help them unpack.

"We'll see when your mother gets ho-"

"You'll never believe who I just can into!" Paula said excitedly as she walked through the door with groceries. Everyone went over to help her unpack. Deciding to give up on the party idea Spencer excused herself and made her way up to her room

"Do you all remember Carla Davies?"

"Your old friend that you lost touch with?" Clay answered as he put the milk in the fridge, his mother nodded.

"I ran into her at the bank, it was amazing that'd we run into each other again. Anyways she invited us to this party that she's having later on tonight. After you finish putting those things away go get Spencer and tell her to get ready. Don't tell her where we're going though. She hasn't seen Ashley in eight years so we should just surprise her." Upstairs Spencer was blasting music while she unpacked her clothes into the closet which seemed far too small for it all to fit. Little did she know her life was about to get much more complicated.

"This is the place?!" Glen and Clay shouted as their car pulled into the driveway leading to a large mansion. Spencer frowned, it looked extremely cliché. She was upset that she couldn't see Kyla and even more irritated that no one had told her where they were going. She had every intention of going straight to sleep but here she was at…god knows where!

"Alright I'll park and meet you all inside," Ben said as he drove away. Spencer was taken off guard as someone tackled her.

"I thought you weren't going to make it!" Kyla laughed she gave Spencer a hug. Spencer returned the embrace still confused as hell.

"I see you two have met," Paula smiled as Kyla introduced herself. Clay shook her hand and Glen tried to make a move only to be elbowed in the ribs by Spencer.

"Come on Spencer," Kyla said taking her hand and dragging her into the house. As the two girls entered the house Carla walked outside to greet the new guests.

"It's so nice to see you again, we have so much to catch up on…is this little Clay and Glen?!" Carla gasped and gave them both a hug.

"Not so little anymore," Clay laughed then excused himself. He and Glen headed into the house as Ben walked over to them.

"Ben so good to see you, please both of you come inside," Carla said as she lead them in.

Spencer still was confused as hell as Kyla led them into an empty room. Before she knew it the door was locked and Kyla's lips were on her own. Spencer wasn't complaining of course, it was just very sudden. Kyla pressed her into her, her back was being jabbed on by the doorknob but she ignored it. It had been awhile since her last make out session, she had had broken up with Lori five months before they moved. Maybe this was why she was attracted to Kyla; it had just been awhile since she felt something, anything like this. Whatever _this_ was. Suddenly she stopped which was fine with Spencer since she needed to breathe.

"Kyla! I need your help, hurry up." She muttered reading the text message from her mother. Groaning she looked at Spencer and laughed.

"Uh sorry I'll be right back, my mom needs me. Just stay here it won't take long," she said and kissed her once more before she left. Spencer cleared her throat as she sat down in the room. She hadn't really gotten the chance to look around and found that the room contained a rather large piano and several guitars on the other side of it. Sitting down on the bench she placed her fingers on the keys. It'd been awhile since she last played but she still played well. After seconds of messing around with keys she started to play a tune that she memorized by heart. Closing her eyes she let her thoughts drift back to years ago.

"Who the hell are you?" Spencer jumped a bit, not because of the voice but at the sudden presence of another person in the room. She stopped playing and looked over to her. Her breathing stilled, she thought Kyla was hot but there weren't words to describe this girl. There was something about her, Spencer couldn't for the life of her figure out what and that was the reason for her continued silence.

Ashley was the same way; she examined the blonde sitting in front of her. What the hell, why did she look so familiar. Her eyes scanned everywhere, starting from the bottom up then suddenly stopped at her eyes. This time it was time for Ashley to hold her breath. There was no way in hell it was her…but those eyes. No one else had those amazingly innocent blue eyes.

"…Spence?" All the air returned to her at once and Spencer felt lightheaded. Only one other person called her that and they weren't allowed to call her that ever again. Oh god, it was her.

"Actually it's Spencer to you," she said trying to not let her voice give away her current state of mind. It didn't work all that well but Ashley didn't seem to notice.

"Oh very nice, the first time we see each other in eight years and you're going to say that to me? God turn into a bitch much?" Ashley growled as she crossed her arms. God it was so good to see her, what in the hell happened in the past eight years. This girl standing before her was gorgeous! Even when she knew she had to be mad at her Spencer made it hard as hell.

"Excuse me?! What the fuck gives you the right to call me that? Not once Ashley, not once in eight fucking years did you call me, write me. And when I tried to reach you you were always too "busy." You broke your promise but I guess it wasn't that hard since I clearly wasn't that important to you," Spencer stood up as she defended herself. How dare she accuse me of losing contact.

"What the hell are you talking about?! I called you everyday for two weeks after I left. I either got the machine or someone hung up on me. I even tried to write but nothing came back," Ashley attacked right back. What the hell was going on? Nothing made sense but right now both girls were filled with so much emotion, hatred, anger, confusion, hurt, that neither wanted to hear the other out.

"Spencer is something wrong?" the two turned to see that Kyla had returned to the room. Ashley looked at Spencer in confusion but was taken back when she saw Spencer sigh, her eyes glancing to the ground.

"Look…I get it alright? It's L.A. you didn't have time for a little Ohio girl anymore. You don't have to make up excuses…" before Ashley could retort Spencer grabbed Kyla's hand and dragged her out of the room leaving Ashley by herself.

"…what the fuck is going on today…"


	4. Chapter 4

After several minutes of sitting idiotically in the room Ashley got up and left. This was her house, why the hell was she hiding? She was going to go "enjoy the party" which in other words meant she was going to look for Spencer. The short amount of time spent with her made Ashley want more, even though it was spent arguing and fighting.

She was amazed at how much Spencer had changed but yet remained the same. For the past eight years she had an image of how Spencer looked. When she first saw her that image was blown to hell. Her eyes remained the same, Ashley still found herself getting lost in them. The Spencer now had grown up, very much so. Everything about her made Ashley's body scream with desire, she was absolutely gorgeous. Shaking herself from her thoughts going any further she focused on the task at hand. She had to find Spencer and get this all sorted out.

_Yes, find her, talk, fuck her. Sounds like a plan._

Sighing at her thoughts she started her search.

Spencer's mind raced around frantically. So many things were happening at once, her mind was thinking about Ashley while her body reacted to the kisses that Kyla was laying on her neck. Things were happening so fast and while a good fuck with Kyla seemed to be the right idea she knew it wasn't. What the hell was she even doing here?

_Cause you're hurt by Ashley and decided to have some fun. Nothing wrong with that. _

But there was something wrong with it, this wasn't Spencer. She didn't hook up with someone she just met. Softly pushing Kyla away she looked into very confused eyes.

"I'm sorry I really don't know what's going on with me. This whole hooking up with a random person just isn't me, not that you're random It's just that we just met and-"

"And you're totally into my sister," Kyla said matter of factly. Spencer looked back at her with equal confusion.

"Excuse me…sister?!" What the hell, Ashley never told her she had a sister.

Where in the hell was Spencer? She had looked everywhere and she was nowhere to be found, the same with Kyla.

"Ashley is that you?!" she looked up to see Clay and Glen walking over to her. Oh my, she truly had not seen these people for a long time. Both seemed to be so different, except for Glen whose eyes immediately scanned her body. She felt the urge to vomit.

"Clay it's so good to see you. Look at you, all handsome and such, bet you get all the girls," Ashley laughed as she gave him a hug. Back then she considered Clay as a brother as well. He had always been a kind hearted person. She neglected to give Glen a hug and he pretended to be hurt about it. Tough, but then he smirked. She never did like it when he smirked.

"So have you seen Spencer yet? My little sister looks a lot different now doesn't she?" she was already tired of him and he had only just started speaking," Though her tastes haven't changed one bit. I could swear I heard her in the coat closet away ago with someone, they seemed to be enjoying themselves."

Ashley sucked in breath, oh god please don't let it be true. Clay frowned at his brother and after punching him in the ribs he apologized to Ashley and led him away. She didn't even know they left, her mind was racing around.

_Hmm to bad she's fucking your sister_

At times she wished her thoughts were a person, oh how she'd beat the crap out of it. Trying to get her breathing back to normal she turned to find the two only to see them leaving the coat closet together. That was it, this was to much. Ashley turned around and left quickly before they could see her.

"It was far to hot in there to talk," Kyla gasped as they both breathed in air. That was in fact all they had done after their make out session, talked. Spencer explained to her the whole Ashley situation.

"I know! Never again," Spencer laughed as she fixed her hair and looked around. After talking to Kyla she really wanted to find Ashley and figure things out. Thinking back to their first encounter she blushed remembering how extremely hot Ashley looked. She always found her to be attractive but now it was on a whole other level. As things ran through her head about what she wanted to do to her she blushed even more.

"Well let's go find my sister and get things sorted out!" Kyla said as she took Spencer's arm and dragged her away. She really wanted Spencer for herself but after hearing the story between them she knew she had no chance. Still if everything didn't work out she would always be there is Spencer needed her.

Sadly after an hour of searching Ashley was nowhere to be found. As Spencer's family prepared to leave Kyla told Spencer, Clay and Glen about the party later that night. Her mom wouldn't be home because she was going out to dinner with the Carlins. After surprisingly having their parents agree to let them go the three siblings went home to get ready, Spencer packed because she was going to be sleeping over. Glen and Clay finished way ahead of her and when Spencer finally was ready she walked outside to meet them.

"Damn little sister, who are you all dressed up for?" Clay laughed and Spencer smiled at him. He knew exactly what was going on, unlike Glen who was obvious to everything. Over the years Clay had always been there for Spencer, he knew he couldn't do much after Ashley left but he did his best to be there. He was the first one she told when she came out and he was there to defend her when she came out to her family. Her father had taken the news just fine but her mother and Glen gave her a hard time with it for awhile. Still Clay had always been there, through girlfriends and breakups, happiness and heartache. She smiled as she gave him a hug.

"You know I like you best right?" she whispered into his ear and he nodded.

"Of course," he smiled as the three of them got into the car. When they got to the mansion it looked completely different from the civilized party earlier that day. Cars littered the streets and loud music poured from every room. The three looked around; it was going to be a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

Seconds after entering the mansion, Glen spotted some girls in the corner of the room and immediately walked over to them. Spencer rolled her eyes in disgust as he began hitting on them. She could tell they weren't interested, especially since most of them were eyeing Spencer. She smiled at them and they blushed as they smiled back. Glen turned around to see what was happening and cursed out loud and walked back over to Spencer.

"Can you like not convert every chic in this place? Come on," he whined as he went off to find other girls Clay laughed at him and after a couple minutes went to find himself something to drink. Spencer felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see who it was. To her surprise it was one of the girls Glen was flirting with earlier.

"Hey, we were wondering if you wanted to join us?" the red head smiled as she asked her. Spencer nodded and followed her over to the group of friends.

"We haven't seen you around, what's your name, are you new?" questions bombarded her all at once.

"Oh yeah my family and I just moved here this morning, my stepfather got a job at the hospital here. It's nice to meet you all, my name is Spencer Carlin," she answered.

"Let me introduce you to the gang, my name is Amber," the red head started to introduce them," Next is Jessica, Rachel, Tina, and Beth. We're Kyla's sorority sisters." As if on cue Kyla made her way into the room, it was clear that she was drunk.

"Spencer! You came," her words slurred as she made her way over to Spencer and hugged her. A strong aroma of alcohol covered her whole body.

"Kyla we were just discussing the sorority with Spencer. Don't you think she'd make a great new member?" Rachel said not even looking at Kyla when she spoke. Her eyes continued to run up and down Spencer's body and she shifted around a little feeling quite uncomfortable with the whole thing.

"Listen Spencer come with me, I know where all the good drinks are!" Kyla shouted ignoring her friend and took Spencer's arm and dragged her into another room. Looking around she saw that most of the people there went to UCLA; she reminded herself that she needed to go register for classes later on.

"Whoa Kyla, who's the cutie?" someone asked as they draped an arm around Kyla. He looked like you typical jock and if Spencer was into that sort of thing he was decent enough looking.

"Spencer this is my boyfriend Aiden," Kyla said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The two of them started making out as if no one else in the room existed. Spencer laughed a little then frowned, boyfriend huh? And she still had the nerve to flirt with other girls; she made a mental note not to get involved with her again.

"It's nice to meet you Spencer," Aiden smiled at her once their make out session ended. Oh great, again with the undressing with the eyes. Was this going to keep happening all night?

"So how long have you two been going out?" Spencer shouted over the loud roar of music, once it started everything started to gather around and dance.

"A couple months I guess," Aiden shrugged as Kyla dragged him towards the dancers. Spencer shook her head and laughed as the two started to basically have sex with each other as they danced. L.A. indeed was an interesting place.

"Spencer!" Clay called to her and turned to see that her brother was in the company of a girl," Hey this is Chelsea. This is my little sister Spencer." Both girls greeted each other with smiles. She seemed like a good person Spencer thought.

"How are you guys enjoying the party?" she asked as they watched the activity around them.

"Actually me and Chelsea were about to leave and get something to eat. You know me, not much of a partier. Do you want to come, I know all this drinking probably isn't helping you," Clay suggested. Spencer glanced down and saw that his hands were intertwined with Chelsea's and smiled.

"No that's okay, you two go ahead. I'm crashing here anyways so I may as well stay, have fun," Spencer said. Clay and Chelsea started walking away but Clay glanced back at his sister to make sure she was ok with it. She gave him a thumbs up and he lead Chelsea out the door. She truly did love Clay and was excited that he found someone that nice.

"Okay whoever just broke that vase get the fuck out," a familiar voice echoed throughout the house. Looking around the corner into a different room she found Ashley shaking her head then returning to the turntables that lay on the table ahead of her. Another song started to play; she clicked several buttons then placed the headphones around her neck down. Walking over to the dance floor she grabbed the closest girl to her and both started to dance. Every recognized the song and cheered as they started to move to it.

_I've seen the future  
So I already know  
Baby you've been let down  
You can't take anymore_

_You hear that I'm untrue  
But you've been around too  
I don't hide it from you_

I know that you're needy  
Baby, take it easy  
And we can make all our dreams come true  
If you...

Spencer watched as there bodies quickly pressed together, Ashley clearly the dominant one. During all of this all she could watch was Ashley. Her lips moved to the other girl's neck, tasting, teasing. She watched as the girl went limp in her hands, unable to do a thing. She couldn't look away, everything Ashley did made Spencer wish she was that girl in her arms.

_I'm down if you don't expect any more from me  
I ain't got much for you  
It's all right  
If you wanna get down  
Keep it simple, now_

"Liking what you see?" someone asked and Spencer jumped. It was the sorority girl Rachel from before. Oh great Spencer thought to herself.

"Uh excuse me?" Spencer asked not really wanting to talk to her. Something about her just didn't appeal to Spencer, and she was a pretty damn good judge of character.

"Kyla told me you and Ashley used to know each other. I don't know how she was when she was little but DAMN she's such a slut nowadays," before Rachel knew what was coming a fist slammed into her nose and sent her flying to the ground.

"Listen I can take care of myself," Spencer said as she stood towering over Rachel," but if you ever call her anything that offensive again I'll finish what I started here." And with a smile she left.

Ashley was quickly growing tired of the girl she was dancing with. She was completely out of it and it wasn't because of the large amount of alcohol she had drunk earlier. Ever since she saw Spencer and Kyla that morning she felt like shit. Now no amount of alcohol in the world or any meaningless sex with random girls would shake her out of this-exactly what was this?

_Let me spell this out for you since clearly you're an idiot, L.O.V._

Oh hell no, she stopped herself. No way. Before her thoughts could continue she heard someone scream. Looking to her right she saw Spencer hovering over Rachel, she had punched her!? Ashley started towards Spencer who suddenly walked outside to the backyard. Walking by Rachel she bent down to ask what happened, Rachel was slowing trying to get back to her seat.

"That stupid bitch just punched me!" she screamed and within seconds ended up on the ground again. Ashley rubbed her hands, she hadn't punched someone in a good long time.

"DAMN," the frat boys nearby laughed and Ashley left to follow Spencer outside.


	6. Chapter 6

Looking around Ashley saw Spencer sitting by the large pool in the backyard. Stopping right behind her Ashley stood there watching her. She continued to be amazed every second she was around Spencer, though she didn't show it well….okay she didn't show it at all. But seeing her…how different she was now…it brought back feelings she wasn't sure she wanted. A long time ago she knew she loved her, even at that young age it was one of the things in her unstable life that she was certain of. As the years in L.A. passed and the body count of women went up she thought she had successfully slept with enough people and drank enough to rid her mind of Spencer Carlin. Looking at her now she realized how truly wrong she was. She was still in love with this girl, this women that sat in front of her, Ashley wondered then…did Spencer feel the same?

But…it had been ten years since they last saw each other…everything was different, right? Suddenly her anger returned. Ten years had passed and there was not a word from the blonde. Of course she wouldn't feel the same. Clearing her throat she saw Spencer jump a bit at the sound. She stood up and was now face to face with Ashley. Glancing at her right hand Ashley saw that it had turned red, it was probably one of the first times Spencer punched anyone.

"…why are you here?" Ashley said and afterwards realized it was in a more then harsh tone.

"Kyla invited me-"

"I meant why the hell are you here in L.A.?! My life was just fine until you decided to pop back into it!" Uh oh wait, did she just say that…oh fuck why did she say that? Looking at Spencer she realized she just made a big mistake.

_Way to fucking go Davies, your mouth fucks you over again. Guess what, you're a moron. _

Ashley saw a small tear drop down the girl's face but she turned her head downwards not letting Ashley look at her. She waited for the blonde's answer, she had yet to breath in the past couple minutes that this had started.

"Even though you don't want to see me…I am glad to see you. No matter what's happened in the past ten years I want you to know I always thought of you. How you were doing, what you were thinking about, if you were surrounded by others or by yourself, if you were thinking about me," she choked the last part out as a small sob escaped her throat. Ashley stood there, wanting to do something, anything but found herself stuck to the where she stood.

"I remembered that you would always come over to my house when there was no one at your house because you never wanted to be alone," Spencer smiled a bit from this memory. Oh god what was she doing, why was she telling her all of this, Ashley didn't give damn.

_ASHLEY DAVIES, SAY SOMETHING_

"Yeah well you don't need to worry about me, I don't sleep alone," she said this in a way where Spencer clearly understood what she meant and another fresh batch of tears started to fall.

_OH fucking amazing Davies, you've hit a new low. That's it, I'm leaving, you're on your own._

"I understand…I've missed ten years of your life and there's nothing I can do to take it back. Maybe I could have tried harder to keep in touch, maybe I did try hard enough and you just didn't want to hear from me. It's just…" Spencer looked up and Ashley felt a sharp stab of guilt for making her cry so much," I really did miss you Ash…" And with that she walked back inside. Ashley let out the breath she had been holding in. Great, she had successfully driven away another person, now though this person was Spencer. If anything she was the one person she wanted to stick around. But then…why? There were just too many things to think about, Spencer coming to L.A., Spencer and Kyla, what Spencer had just said to her and what in the hell happened ten years ago. From what Spencer just said she had tried to get in contact with Ashley…so then what the hell happened.

"Listen you bitch, just stay the hell away from her alright? We worked hard keeping her away from you for this long," Ashley's breath once more was caught in her throat as she turned around to see Glen's retreating figure. Oh hell no! What did he mean by that, was he behind all of this….wait…WE?!

The party ended several hours later and as she scanned her house Ashley saw that Clay and Glen had left. Several people though had taken it upon themselves to just pass out on the floor. Peeking into Kyla's bedroom she saw her and Aiden snuggled together and she silently let out a laugh. She knew they loved each other but since they had both been hurt by previous relationships(Ashley being Aiden's) they were scared as hell of admitting it to each other. So they technically were dating but weren't exclusive.

On the way to her own bed Ashley caught a figure sleeping in the guest bedroom. Walking inside she quickly remembered that Spencer was staying the night. As she watched the sleeping angel she realized she didn't want to fight with her any longer...especially since Glen seemed to have a hand in them being separated for ten years. Forming a plan she pulled the blanket over the blonde and left to get some sleep herself.

Waking up early that morning was one of the hardest things Ashley had ever done in awhile. She never was awake this early AND she had a huge hangover. Looking to her alarm clock as she turned it off the time read 7:00 a.m. Dear god, she had only gotten to sleep four hours ago. She told herself she needed to go though and soon she was out of bed, showered, and dressed. Making her way to where Spencer was she gently woke her up.

Spencer slowly opened her eyes and groaned as the light from the windows filtered in. She didn't have anything to drink last night but she was still tired as hell. Looking around she was suddenly surprised to see Ashley standing in front of her.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" Ashley asked and all Spencer could manage at the moment was a nod. Ashley waited as Spencer showered and got dressed. When she walked outside to the car Ashley quickly scanned her up and down. The girl could make sweats and a hoodie look hot. She got into the car and Ashley backed out of the driveway and drove off.

When they finally arrived at the beach both sat in the car. It was silent as was the car ride there. Ashley tried several times to make words come out of her mouth but every time she failed miserably. Suddenly she felt Spencer shift beside her, the car door opened and Spencer slammed it shut as she made her way onto the beach.

"Shit…" Ashley sighed and quickly followed her,"Spencer!...Spence come on wait up." She caught up with her and grabbed her hand from behind making her turn around.

"You can't do this to me…be cold to me one night and then give me hope the next. I thought you brought me out here to talk but if you're just going to continue to toy with me I'm-" Ashley stopped her by placing a hand underneath her chin and brought her head up so that they were face to face, her left hand cupped her cheek softly.

"I'm so sorry Spence. When I saw you a lot of feelings came over me and I didn't know how to deal with them. I don't know what happened but I just don't care anymore. I've already lost you for ten years, I don't want to waste anymore time. God Spencer I missed you so much," after this Ashley was surprised to find Spencer's arms wrap around her, she returned the embrace and both girls stood there for what seemed to be forever.

_Well well well, I guess I'll come back to you. For now, you've done good Davies._

Scoffing silently at her own thoughts she hugged Spencer even tighter, Spencer did the same. Looking down Ashley saw that she was crying.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"…it's been hell without you Ash…I'm just so happy."

"It's okay now, I'm here now and I swear I'm never letting you go again."


	7. Chapter 7

After putting aside all the drama that was ten years ago Spencer and Ashley spent the whole day getting to know each other again. Actually it was more so Ashley talking then Spencer. The blonde didn't talk about her life much but Ashley never pressed her on it. She suspected that Spencer didn't have a very good childhood but until she was ready to talk about it Ashley was content with just being around her.

Conversation came easy to them, everything flowed and there was no awkwardness between the two. Usually Ashley never even had conversations with others but with Spencer…with Spencer everything seemed to just come out. It felt so safe telling her anything and everything.

"So yeah, high school was just really boring. Almost didn't graduate because I ditched a lot but I managed," Ashley told her. Of course she left out the fact that when she ditched it was to fuck random girls, yeah Spencer didn't need to hear that. She had never been ashamed to talk of her sexual conquests but with Spencer she was afraid the girl would think less of her. Her opinion mattered to Ashley and that scared her even more.

"You always were a rebel Ash," Spencer smiled as she leaned her head against the other girl's shoulder. Both had been at the beach all day, they had found a quiet spot underneath the pier were no one would bother them. Along with no awkwardness talking they seemed to be fine and content being so close to each other. Both wondered what it meant but put it aside not wanting to deal with that yet.

"So you're in college now aren't you?" Spencer asked looking up at her, Ashley smiled and nodded.

"Yeah I got to UCLA, I didn't think college would be right for me but after awhile I kinda enjoy it. I'm not going to be there for long two, I figure two years should do," Ashley explained. Spencer, still listening intently to her, closed her eyes and sighed. She was enjoying this day more then anything but was a bit tired since they had woken up very early to do so. Ashley noticed this and chuckled a bit.

"Ready to head out? I'll get you home so you can get some sleep," Ashley offered. Spencer wanted more then anything to stay here longer but knew she was probably going to pass out soon so she agreed. Both walked hand in hand back to Ashley's car.

Minutes later they arrived at Spencer's house, looking to her right she saw the blonde had fallen asleep. Smiling she brushed a strand of hair from her face and place her hand gently on her cheek. Feeling a soft and warm hand on her Spencer slowly opened her eyes to see Ashley gazing intently at her. She smiled and looked to see that she was home.

"So I guess I'll see you around?" Spencer asked, she wasn't exactly sure what happened next. Sure they had a great day and made up but how would things work after this? Things she had forced out of her head now came flooding back to her. Ashley saw the blonde was troubled and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Spencer, like I said earlier let's not worry about the past. We're friends again, here, now. I think that's all we should be focused on. Let's not waste any more of our precious time thinking about things that have already passed, I just want to spend as much of it with you as I can," Ashley she had said the right thing when Spencer got up and hugged her tightly. Spencer decided she was right, for now she just wanted to be with Ashley.

"Spencer, quit fooling around out there and help us!" Glen. He's gotta ruin everything. Ashley sighed and Spencer laughed she got out of the car.

"Call me later?"

"Of course, bye Spence," she watched her walk to her door and before entering she turned back giving Ashley another smile. Once the door closed Ashley started the car and headed back home.

"We've been unpacking all day and you've been out with _her_?" Gen said as she made her way into the living room.

"Glen lay off, I'VE been unpacking all day and you've been slacking so don't even get on her about it," Clay laughed as he placed several of the family pictures onto the top of the fireplace. Spencer looked at them, not one of the pictures had her father in them.

It was as if her mom erased him out of their lives. Spencer was probably the only person in the house that had pictures of him, after his death everyone seemed to just deal with it in their own way. Well everyone dealt with it by forgetting him that is. Spencer couldn't though; he was the only person in her life, besides Clay, that understood her. Now he was gone, taken from her in a hit and run a year after Ashley left. Needless to say everything went downhill after Ashley left.

"HELLO? Spencer really you've got to stop spacing out like that," Glen said as he flicked her on the forehead," Now seriously though, you shouldn't be hanging out with Ashley."

"Glen would you drop it, I seem to remember someone having a crush on her when we were little," Clay laughed as he picked up a box and headed upstairs with it.

"Awww Glen, is that why you don't want me hanging out with her, because you like her?" Spencer teased her brother but then his expression changed.

"Spencer I'm being serious. It's not safe, you just got here and you have no idea who you can trust or not. Sure she used to be your friend but that was eight years ago, she's changed since then," Glen told her. Spencer frowned, what the hell was his problem?

"I can take care of myself Glen," Spencer scoffed and turned to go away. Glen grabbed her hand from behind and Spencer flinched at how hard his grip was.

"Spencer obviously you've forgotten. You can't take care of yourself, if you could it wouldn't have happened," Glen let go of her hand and the second he did it came back at him slapping him hard on the cheek. He stared at his sister who stood in front of him, tears flowed down her cheeks and she was visibly trembling.

"Oh fuck Spencer I didn't mean," another slap stung his cheek and he back away from Spencer who now was slumped on the ground crying. Clay ran downstairs looking at the scene before him. Seeing Glen standing there looking guilty he knew what had happened. He walked over to Spencer and wrapped his arms around her whispering into her ear.

"Spencer, hey it's okay, it's okay. It's going to be okay, I'm here now," he tried to console her. By now she was shaking violently and the tears didn't seem to want to stop.

"Oh god…" the young girl wailed as the memories ran back into her mind. For awhile now she had kept them locked away, Glen's words brought them flooding back.

"Glen you fucking idiot," Clay glared at his brother who stood there dumbfounded. Glen watched as Clay tried to calm his sister down, guilt just poured through him. He didn't mean to bring it back up, it just slipped. He just wanted so much to hurt her at that moment and that…it just slipped.

"Spencer I swear to you I didn't meant it," he tried to move closer to her but Spencer started to cry even harder.

"Glen just get the hell away from her, you've done enough. Call mom and tell her to get home as soon as she can," Clay said as he picked Spencer up. It was hard to keep a hold of her as she was now but he managed to get her upstairs and into her room. Minutes later she seemed to stop kicking around but now she had stopped doing anything at all. Clay had experienced this several times and knew what was happening now. Spencer was retreating within herself. Last time this happened he couldn't get her back until a good week later.

"Mom said she can't get home until late tonight," Glen told him then walked away. Clay muttered yet another curse word, only when it came to Spencer was he this passionate about things. He walked over to Spencer and tried to talk to her. Nothing came, no reply, no movement, he could off sworn the girl wasn't even breathing. After making sure she was he placed a blanket on top of her and went downstairs. A phone vibrated on the kitchen counter got his attention and walking over to it he picked it up.

"Hey Spencer," Ashley's voice came through it.

"Oh hey Ashley, it's Clay."

"Clay? What's wrong you sound-is something wrong with Spencer?!"

"…hey do you think you could come over?"


	8. Chapter 8

_All she really had was an address so she wrote her everyday for two months. Not once did Ashley reply to them. At first Spencer thought it was a problem with the mail and continued to send letters. After the first month she realized it wasn't the mail but couldn't bring herself to stop until the second month. She had asked her mom for a number so she could try to call her. After repeatedly asking her Paula gave in and gave her a number. That didn't work either, it just kept ringing. Her mom told her to just stop trying. That Ashley obviously didn't want to talk to her; she was in L.A. living a new life._

_Arthur and Clay helped Spencer as much as they could but they knew she was heartbroken. She had lost her best friend, the only friend she ever had. They could tell she was unhappy though she tried her very best to not show it in front of others. A year after Ashley left Spencer was still unhappy. She had gotten on with her life as best she could but it was obvious something was missing. She wasn't very sociable towards others and they took this negatively. She was picked on more then ever and Glen only added to her torment. Clay couldn't help much because he chose to go to a private school. He wanted Spencer to go with him but she decided she couldn't make it there and just stuck it out with public school enduring torment day by day. Nothing could be worse, or so she thought._

_One day she got home from school and the entire house felt different to her. She put her book bag down and went to look for the others. She found them all sitting around in the living room; she stopped dead in her tracks at the entrance of the room. Clay looked up at her; he was the only one to acknowledge her. She could tell he had been crying. Walking over to him she was taken back when he wrapped her in a hug and began crying freely. She did her best to console him but desperately wondered what was going on. She asked. He told. She felt her whole world go at that second, the words hit and run and didn't make it were the only things she heard. She clung tighter to Clay and let her tears openly fall to the ground._

_Spencer entered high school very much the loner. The boys that lived in the area, now that Ashley was gone, continued to tease and taunt Spencer. They had long since lost interest in her and now dedicated themselves to making her life hell. The fact that she had lost her father didn't even faze them, they didn't care. Glen of course was cuddled and given sympathy but not Spencer. She wasn't allowed it. Only a year after Arthur's death Paula remarried to Ben. Spencer of course hated him but whatever she thought of him never really mattered to her mom, she didn't seem to matter at all. Glen told her it was because she was the last born, she reminded their mother of their dad and that it hurt her to look at Spencer. Clay would always tell Glen to back off when he got like this. She never knew why but Glen didn't seem to care for her like Clay did, funny that your adopted brother would care more for you then your real one. But as far as Spencer was concerned Clay was her real brother, Glen wasn't, at all. He made high school hell for her, like having everyone else to deal with wasn't enough. _

_She did make one friend though, junior year. He seemed so nice, so different from everyone else. Oh how naïve she was, how trusting, how foolish. She just wanted someone to care about her, obviously he wanted more. _

"So what exactly is going on Clay?" Ashley asked as she entered the house. After Clay had called her she got there was soon as she could, breaking several laws in the process.

"…It's not really my place to tell you but I just know she needs you right now Ashley. When she gets like this…I'm so afraid I'm going to lose her. I used to be able to get her back after a day or so but last time it took me a week. I'm just really afraid I may lose her this time," Clay told her as they made their way upstairs. Ashley meanwhile was confused as hell.

"Clay what are you talking about, lose her?" Ashley started to ask but when he opened the door and she walked into her room she froze. Spencer was sitting on her bed, her face was blank, expressionless, was she even Spencer anymore? She didn't seem to even move an inch; that is until she realized that it was Ashley. Tears ran once more down her face and Ashley quickly rushed over to her, she sat down on the bed in front of her.

"Aw baby…who did this to you…" she whispered as she slowly placed her hands on the girl's cheek wiping the tears away. Clay was amazed, just seeing Ashley could make Spencer respond to the outside world once more and with a smile he closed the door hopeful that she could fully bring her back.

Spencer couldn't do anything more then sit there and cry as Ashley talked to her in a low and soothing voice. She had allowed herself to be moved so that she was now leaning backwards into Ashley who had her back to the wall and her hands wrapped around Spencer.

Running out of things to say Ashley was now trying to figure out what to do. She had made progress with the girl. She was slowly, ever so slowly, turning back to her old self. She still hadn't said a word in two hours though. Clay walked in awhile ago to say that it was okay if Ashley wanted to spend the night, both Ben and Paula wouldn't be home till morning. Apparently there was a huge accident on the highway and both were needed. Even though Ashley knew they had jobs helping others she was still bitter at the fact that they hadn't even called to check up on Spencer, Clay had to call them. Realizing it was silent for too long Ashley tried once more to think of something to say but then just started to sing.

_If I find my way through the darkest of days,  
Will I laugh about the things that kept me awake?  
But if my greatest fear paints itself so crystal clear,  
Will I run away or will I hide?_

And if I don't come home tonight,  
Just know I tried my best to fight.  
Please don't think I plan to lose to the night.  
And curse the moon so dull and bright,  
My heavy soul can't stand the light.  
It burns me straight to the bones, my bones

In the desert sun I watched my nerves come undone.  
One by one my strings they tangled into knots.  
And ever since that day, deep in Santa Fe.  
I've learned to hate myself for giving everything away.

And if I don't come home tonight,  
Just know I tried my best to fight.  
Please don't think I plan to lose to the night.  
And curse the moon so dull and bright,  
My heavy soul can't stand the light.  
It burns me straight to the bones, my bones

And if I don't come home tonight,  
Just know I tried my best to fight.  
Please don't think I plan to lose to the night.  
And curse the moon so dull and bright,  
My heavy soul can't stand the light.  
It burns me straight to the bones, my bones

She stopped and looked down at Spencer, the blonde was sleeping, a small smile was on her face. Ashley smiled at this and shifted gently so that Spencer now lay on the bed; Ashley slipped in on the other side and pulled the covers over both of them. She pulled Spencer close to her and fell asleep more content then she had ever been.

_Her hands were pinned down, the alcohol added with his strength made sure she couldn't move. She couldn't escape. His breath was sour as he laid kisses down her neck, she tried to escape. He kissed her. She tried to escape. His hands traveled downwards and soon her skirt was off. She tried to escape; she couldn't do a damn thing. His pants were off and he placed a hand over her mouth to stop her screaming, she punched him with her free hand but it didn't do a thing. She was too weak, she couldn't stop him. With a grin he lowered himself down on top of her and she let out a scream._

"Spencer! Spencer, wake up!" Ashley woke up to Spencer screaming and was now trying to calm her down. She wrapped her arms around her and was surprised when she flinched at the contact. She let go and looked at Spencer who now sat in the corner of her bed, her arms were wrapped around her knees. The room was dark but the moon filtered through the window allowing Ashley to see her eyes, she nearly cried herself seeing them.

"Spencer…it's going to be okay…just talk to me…" Ashley wasn't even sure she wanted to hear it herself.

"No, it's not okay," Ashley was surprised as Spencer spoke for the first time in several hours," I…I couldn't stop him…I was too weak and he…he…" Realization hit Ashley, she stopped breathing for a good minute. No, her mind demanded, please don't let it be…nothing that terrible was supposed to happen to someone like her. Not Spencer, not sweet and innocent Spencer.

"Spencer…?"

"Oh god Ash…he raped me…"


	9. Chapter 9

(Loving the reviews, much thanks. Oh and the song from the last chapter was Cue The Sun by Daphne Loves Derby)

Ashley sighed as Clay poured her some coffee. It was seven in the morning and neither of them had gotten any sleep last night. Paula and Ben got home about an hour ago. They decided for themselves that Spencer had "calmed down" and went to bed. Ashley nearly kicked down the door and beat the both of them. She couldn't understand how they were so carefree about it. Putting her anger aside she decided to just focus on Spencer. Last night was probably one of the most intense moments in her life. Hearing Spencer talk about the…incident brought back the anger Ashley tried to keep at bay. Why? Why would someone do such a terrible thing, to Spencer of all people? She was just so damned innocent it wasn't even funny, she didn't deserve this, the nightmares, the memories permanently burned into her. She gripped the cup tightly and took a drink; she was drained, both physically and emotionally, there was barely had any strength left to hold that simple cup of coffee.

"…so I'm guessing she told you everything?" Clay asked in a soft voice as he sat down next to her. Ashley simply nodded and took another sip. Her mind raced backwards to the events that took place only hours ago.

Spencer had once more stopped talking. Her chin rested on her knees and her arms continued to hug them for dear life. Her eyes were closed but Ashley knew she wasn't asleep. Ashley lay on the bed in front of her, one hand propped her head up as she watched Spencer intently looking for any signs of change. It seemed like every time she tried to take her hands Spencer would flinch at the contact so Ashley simply gave her time but made sure she was close enough to show Spencer she was still there. It hurt her that she couldn't do more but at the moment it was all up to Spencer.

After first hearing what Spencer said Ashley went into denial, no way would something so terrible happen to Spencer. After several minutes of crying from the blonde though Ashley felt sadness then anger. She was beyond angry, she was ready to go hunt this guy down and gut him herself but no…Spencer came first.

It was around five in the morning that Ashley suddenly woke up. Her arm had gone numb from holding her head up and it had given out, letting her head fall onto the bed. She muttered a curse word then looked over to Spencer who was now watching her.

"I was wondering when that arm of yours would give out, I have pillows you know," Spencer told her as she handed Ashley one. She took it and smiled at the blond. Her heart lifted when she saw a small smile appear on her face.

"Did you get any sleep?" Ashley asked but already knew the answer, she was sure the blonde was terrified of going back to sleep, back to the nightmares. Spencer didn't respond and Ashley figured she would go back to yet another long spell of it.

"You know after you left I tried really hard to be strong," she looked up in surprise when Spencer started talking. Sitting up she positioned herself so that she sat in front of Spencer. Slowly she moved to hold her hands once more and was relieved when she didn't pull away. She gave her a reassuring squeeze telling her it was okay to continue.

"You weren't there anymore so I tried so hard to take care of myself…it didn't really work too well. The boys that would always pick on me saw that you were gone and had taken it upon themselves to remind me of that fact. I couldn't do a damn thing about it, cause without you I was just a weak little girl…" Ashley started to disagree but the look on Spencer's face begged her to let her continue. Ashley kept quiet, Spencer had kept all of this bottled up for so long it seemed she let her go on.

"Around the time I got into middle school I realized I was gay. But there wasn't anyone around to talk to about it. Dad was already gone and no way in hell was I going to talk to mom, Glen and Ben about it. Clay was very understanding about it but he went to a different school so he couldn't help me out was much as he would off liked. I was still so confused about it but with no one around I just kept it all to myself."

"No one knew but they joked around that I was. When I never defended myself about it they realized it was true. God I've never seen such ignorance as I did throughout my high school years. By the time I reached high school no one would even talk to me….I spent all of my time alone. Without Clay there…Glen made my high school life hell every second he got the chance. Every chance he got he'd send his jock buddies over to me, they'd try to kiss me and when I wouldn't let them they'd verbally bash me in front of the whole school. Rumors started flying around that I had sex with random girls and that I had drinking problems…it was of course all started by Glen. I don't…know what the hell he wanted from me…" Spencer, so composed only minutes ago, let the tears start falling once more. Ashley moved closer to her and embraced her, she felt the girl cry silently against her. Seconds later Spencer pulled away and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Senior year they'd backed off a bit but it was still an everyday thing. By then I'd learned to tune out the outside world…I went to school, they would taunt and tease me, I'd go home, do homework then go to sleep. It didn't even seem like I was living anymore, I was just going through the motions. Clay and I would talk whenever we got the chance. One night I broke down, the teasing of earlier that day had managed to slip by my defenses. I told him I was so tired of everything and just wished they'd stop. I even said something along the lines of wanting not to be gay anymore just so they would stop, I didn't mean it of course just at the time I was really emotional and…I guess Glen heard us that night. Things started to change that next day…it creeped me the fuck out."

"_Hey Spencer!" she looked up, shocked as hell that her brother was calling her and not adding "you fucking dyke" at the end of it. Looking at him she saw him waving at her from his lunch table, the cheerleaders there were also smiling at her. Oh dear god what was going on, this had to be a trick._

"_Come sit with us," Glen called again and Spencer continued to stand there. She was about ready to break down right then and there. She knew it was a trick, it had to be. But a huge part of her wanted SO badly to believe that it wasn't, she wanted to just accept that maybe things were changing. Before she could think on the matter any further Glen had gotten up and walked her over to the table and sat her down. The conversations that followed consisted of sports, cheerleading, and teenage normal things. Foolishly she let her guard down and let them trap her. _

"I guess Glen thought that if I started hanging around him and his jock buddies I'd start liking guys and I'd be "cured". For awhile I avoided all of their advances but then one day a new student transferred to the school. His name was Patrick…" Spencer stopped and bit her lower lip nervously as she looked at Ashley, she was still listening intently.

"Is he the one who…" Ashley asked and Spencer quickly nodding then looked away. She cursed at herself; it seemed all she was doing today was crying. Pulling herself together as best she could she faced Ashley again.

"For awhile life seemed to be getting better, school was bearable, I was hanging out with "the popular kids". Patrick "helped" me a lot but I didn't have any feelings for him. Still when he asked me out I said yes, I was just so grateful for everything he'd done. Glen was of course ecstatic; he and Patrick became good friends. He wanted so badly to see me with a guy that he couldn't or rather wouldn't see that I wasn't happy. One night we were invited to a party and they went off to get drunk with each other. Patrick was mad because once again I had stopped him from starting anything with me earlier, I'd really only let him kiss me a couple of times. It got late and I went to go find him since I really needed to get home. By now everyone at the party was either passed out or drunk off their ass. I walked into a room and found him with his tongue down some other girl's throat. It didn't really bother me, if anything I was glad. I walked over to him and told him we were done and started to walk away…he wouldn't let me go. He was beyond drunk but I still couldn't fight him off, he took my hands and dragged me upstairs. I yelled at Glen to help me but he stayed on the couch finding the whole scene to be funny, like he thought Patrick was only goofing off. But he wasn't…we got to the top and he threw me into one of the bedrooms…" Spencer looked at Ashley once more," Listen Ash, I know you want to know everything but I just can't…I can't tell you anymore. I'm so sorry." the endless supply of tears started once more and Ashley quickly spoke up.

"Spence you don't have to say anything else, you've been through enough. Come here," she pulled Spencer into her arms once more and held her as close as possible. She let out a sigh everything she was just told was running through her mind all at once but she pushed it away for the time being.

"God Ashley…I'm so scared," she felt the girl whisper. She moved her arms from around Spencer and tilted her chin up so that she could kiss her softly on her forehead. Spencer closed her eyes; the feel of Ashley's lips on her skin calmed her and she rested her head against Ashley's.

"Baby I'm here now, I won't let anything happen to you ever again." Both laid back down on the bed, Ashley once more wrapped her arms around Spencer. The blonde smiled at her, and placed a soft kiss on the brunette's cheek. Spencer snuggled closer to her and fell asleep; she had never felt so safe in her entire life.


	10. Chapter 10

That morning Spencer woke up feeling more rested then she had any other day. The first thing she felt was a hand in hers. Smiling she opened her eyes to see Ashley still asleep next to her. Ashley had wanted to go and sleep on the ground to let Spencer get some sleep but the blonde wouldn't let her go. So they both ended up in the same bed together. The quiet snores of the girl in front of her made Spencer's smile broader.

_She's so damned cute._

A yawn escaped and Spencer sighed. Last night had been intense. It had been awhile since it had come up and she cursed Glen for it. She really wanted to just forget it but now she knew she couldn't. She'd have to live with it for the rest of her life. And what about Ashley? Sure last night she had comforted her and made her feel safe but that had to be just pity right? Of course, Spencer couldn't stop crying all night, of course Ashley had to comfort her. But…what would she think of her now that she knew everything. Spencer wished she hadn't told her all those things last night, it made her feel vulnerable, something she didn't ever want to feel again.

"What's wrong," Spencer jumped as she heard Ashley's voice, the brunette had woken up several minutes ago and saw Spencer in deep thought. She felt the girl release her hand and looked at her with a confused look.

"…I'm going to take a shower," was all she said and suddenly she was gone from the bed and into the bathroom, the door clicked as she locked it. Ashley got up and made her way over to the door, she knocked lightly.

"Spence, are you okay?" she asked in a soft voice. She was afraid the blonde was retreating back into herself again and it scared her. Never again did she want to see that much pain and sadness on her face. It took awhile till Spencer replied; she had to compose herself first.

"Yeah I'm just going to take a shower real quick and then we can get some breakfast," Spencer answered in her fakest happy voice ever. Hearing the water turn on Ashley sighed and walked back over to the bed and flopped back down on it. She wondered why Spencer was pulling back all of a sudden. They had managed to get so close last night and now Ashley felt it slowly slip away. Still, Ashley knew that Spencer probably just needed time; everything was just so hectic right now. Closing her eyes with the intention of merely resting them Ashley soon drifted back to sleep.

Spencer wrapped the towel around her hair and another around her body and opened the door. A gust of cold air hit her and she walked over to close the window. Looking back at her bed she saw that Ashley had fallen asleep again.

_Just freaking adorable_

Walking over to her drawer she pulled out a pair of boxers and a yellow hellogoodbye shirt and put them on. She sat down on the bed softly trying not to wake Ashley up. Things were just so crazy nowadays, her family moving here, Ashley and her reuniting, her rape incident resurfacing. And she thought just adjusting to a new place was going to be hard. Her cell phone vibrating on the table made her jump a bit and she was relieved that it had not woken up Ashley. She must have been really tired, Spencer felt guilty about keeping her up all night. Picking up the cell and reading the id she smiled, oh yes.

"Hi grandma!" Spencer smiled. If she loved anyone more then Clay in this family it was her grandmother. The elder women had always been there for Spencer through everything. Most of life's important questions were answered by her, lessons that needed to be learned where taught by her, how she was so kind and good hearted now, it was all her grandmother's doing.

"Spencer, I don't think this is going to work out. I don't have a video game buddy anymore, who am I going to own in Soul Caliber now?" she let out a laugh and Spencer did as well.

"You've never owned me grandma, I think you're getting delusional in your old age," Spencer stuck out her tongue.

"Better stick that tongue back in your mouth young lady, I see you!" Creeped out a bit Spencer did as she was told. "So are you all settled in nicely? How is everything there?" Spencer went on to describe the move then went on to explain the party and the incident with Glen.

"Honey I'm so sorry, your brother can be downright cruel sometimes. Who is this Ashley you keep talking about, I swear you've said her name a million times during this conversation," grandma Carlin laughed. Spencer felt herself blush and glanced once more at the sleeping Ashley.

"You remember, Ashley Davies. She's mom's best friend's daughter, they moved here when we were younger."

"….OH...Ashley Davies!" She went silent for a minute remembering the bond that her granddaughter and Ashley shared even at a young age. And now they had met again after all these years. It wasn't a coincidence that's for damn sure. Slowly a plot entered the crafty women's mind.

"Thanks for zoning out of me grandma," Spencer's voice teased.

"Oh sorry dear, I was watching the beginning clip for Legend of Dragoon." Even though it sounded as if she were lying Spencer couldn't help but smile. Other grandmothers knitted or baked but no, not her grandmother. She played rpgs and owned in Soul Caliber.

"Well I've got to go, the game is starting and you know how I zone out. But listen the other reason I called was that your grandfather's birthday is coming up this weekend. So I've arranged for you and the family to come back and visit, no ifs ands or buts about it. So I'll call you later with details, oh and Spencer, bring Ashley." And with that she hung up. Spencer stared at her phone seconds after it hung up. Bring Ashley? Oh, her grandmother was up to something.

Placing her phone back on the table Spencer once again found herself watching Ashley sleep. Everything in her screamed that she should just go back to bed and snuggle with the brunette and just forget the world. Spencer's brain however knew it wasn't possible. Prying her eyes away from the sleeping angel she walked out of her room and softly shut the door. Taking a deep breath she prepared herself for the onslaught of questions that would surely come when she faced her parents.

It wasn't something loud that woke her up, it was the complete silence in the room, and it made her uneasy. Looking around she saw that Spencer was nowhere in sight. Feeling quite disgusting from being in bed all day she made her way out the door to ask if she could use the shower. Walking downstairs she found that the house was empty except for the lone figure outside in the hammock outside.

Opening the door slightly she saw that it was Spencer. Borrowing the white flip flops on the floor she made her way over to the blonde and saw that her eyes were closed, an ipod lay on her stomach with the headphones on. Smirking she placed a finger on the circular button and turned it clockwise, turning the volume up. Spencer's eyes opened suddenly and she jumped as she ripped the headphones away from her ears and stumbled out of the hammock falling to the ground. Ashley couldn't help but laugh as she flopped onto the ground next to her.

"What is wrong with you? You scared the crap out of me," Spencer pouted as she tried to regain her regular breathing; her hand lay a couple inches away from Ashley.

"Sorry Spence, I really couldn't help it, it was just too easy," Ashley laughed but then reached out to take Spencer's hand. She expected the younger girl to pull away but smiled as Spencer allowed her to do so. It was silent for a minute, both their eyes locked on each other.

"Are you okay? I know a lot happened last night but I'm still here for you," Ashley said in her most sincere voice. She had never offered herself to someone in such a way, offered something without wanting something else in return. She wanted to just be there for Spencer.

Spencer glanced downwards now, her eyes avoiding Ashley's," This morning, I guess I freaked out. I never told anyone about what happened; only my family knew. I just thought…you'd be disgusted by me and-"she stopped when she felt Ashley's hand on her chin tilting her head upwards to face her, the look on her face brought tears to the surface. There was no disgust, nor pity found there. Just love.

"I'll never be disgusted by you Spencer and you should never feel that way about yourself. I wish you could see what I see when I look at you," Ashley smiled as she cupped the blonde's face with her hand. Spencer sighed and leaned into the older girl's touch.

"You're beautiful Spencer, everything about you is beautiful," both didn't notice they had moved significantly closer to each other. Eyes found each other once more, eyes to lips, to eyes then lips. Millions of things raced through Spencer's head. She wanted to kiss Ashley right now, so badly and knew that Ashley wanted to kiss her as well but…it was a huge step, one she didn't feel comfortable taking yet until she got her feelings toward her sorted out.

Seeing the uncertainty in her eyes Ashley knew this wasn't the time to be pushing Spencer. Instead she continued to lean forwards and placed a soft kiss on the girl's cheek and went to whisper in her ear.

"I'll wait for you to be ready, forever if I have to."


	11. Chapter 11

Catchin this baby up too :

The week went by fast; most of it was spent with Ashley. Spencer was starting to slowly return to her old self. The one that was carefree, happy, and playful. Not the fear and hatred filled girl that had been released weeks ago. Spencer avoided Glen every chance she got, they were on speaking terms but she didn't want anything to do with him really. He had really hurt her by bringing her past back and for all she cared he didn't deserve to be a part of her life until he realized what an asshole he was. Clay once more was there for her, god was she grateful for him. Him and Ashley.

After that day Ashley had confessed to Spencer that she would wait for her to be ready the two of them had been inseparable. Spencer signed up for classes at UCLA, Ashley took some classes there as well so both went to school together and left together. When one had class the other would wait for them. Lunch was always a fun time for both of them; they caught up and flirted like no other. Of course both would deny it and call it merely friendly banter. Anyone with eyes could see it was more then that but both girls had it set in their minds that things would go slowly, Spencer was still a bit afraid and Ashley didn't want to push her into something she wasn't ready for.

Both were now in Spencer's room. Ashley lay on her stomach on Spencer's bed reading a magazine while the blonde searched through her closet for clothes at the last minute. It was Friday and in a couple of hours they were to get to the airport and catch a flight to Ohio. Ashley had agreed to go when Spencer first asked but now felt like she would be intruding on the family occasion. Besides, Glen made it extremely clear he wanted Ashley as far away from Spencer as possible. It wasn't that she was afraid of him, she just didn't want a fight to break out with him, and Spencer didn't need that right now. She needed to talk to Spencer about it but whenever she worked up enough nerve to say anything she would hear how happy Spencer was and it deflated all of her nerve ever so quickly.

"You know, maybe you wouldn't be running around in a panic if you had packed a couple days ago," Ashley teased as Spencer ripped open her drawers in search of more clothes.

"I know, I know, I've just been so busy this week. Do you realize how much catching up I have to do, in like all of my classes? Photography class takes a lot of my time too," Spencer stated as she tossed several articles of clothing into the suitcase. How she was going to get it closed was a mystery, clothes had merely been tossed inside, and nothing was folded.

"Hey missy, you merely choose to spend all your free time on photography. Which is good though, you've got a talent there Spence if not anything else," Ashley smirked and ducked a pair of boxers being thrown at her head," Hey it was a compliment!" It was true; Spencer took a photography class on a whim and found that she enjoyed it a lot. She was quite talented at it, even though the girl would not admit to it herself. A couple of her pictures were even hung up in various campus hallways.

"Oh yeah thanks," Spencer scoffed and continued to toss clothes into the suitcase," I can't wait to see Grandma and introduce you to her," the blonde smiled but then noticed the hesitant look on Ashley's face. She dropped what she was doing and sat down next to the brunette who now sat up to face the girl who was now frowning.

"Spence it's not that I don't want to meet her, please don't think that," Ashley started sensing that the blonde was worried. Spencer nodded and waited for Ashley to collect her thoughts and continue.

"It's just that this seems to be a family thing, and I don't really want to intrude. It was really nice of her to send me a ticket but I just don't feel right going and-"she stopped. Looking into the blondes eyes she sensed the oncoming tears and immediately shut up. Shit, she didn't mean to make her this upset. Spencer turned away from her and wiped her eyes and apologized, it broke Ashley's heart. She moved closer to her and gently pulled Spencer back to face her.

"Aw Spencer you've got nothing to apologize for, I do. I didn't mean to make you cry," Ashley pulled her closer and wrapped her arms around the blonde. Spencer rested her forehead against Ashley's shoulder and breathed out a sigh.

"No, I'm sorry. I never did ask if you really wanted to go or not and that was stupid of me. It's just that it's going to be my first time back after… I just didn't want to be there alone," the girl stopped and Ashley felt the girl in her arms start to tremble, she pulled her even closer. What an idiot, Ashley said to herself. She needs you there with her, to support her and be there for her and here you are thinking about how awkward it'd be with her family. Screw her family, Spencer comes first, always.

"Spencer, forgive me? I'm such an idiot," Ashley laughed a bit before she pulled Spencer up to face her. She wiped the tear away from the girls face and placed a kiss on her cheek. Fighting the urge to then kiss the blondes lips she pulled away and grabbed her keys that sat on the table.

"Heading home?" Spencer asked sounding depressed as hell. Ashley took her hand and pulled her up so that Spencer stood with her.

"Yup, gotta go get my suitcase duh. What, you think I'm just going to walk around naked? Cause if you want Spence, I'll gladly do it. But not around your family, cause that's just weird and I don't want Glen staring at my ass and-"Spencer's hand shot up and covered the brunette's mouth before she could rant any further.

"Oh my god, you aren't going to be like this on the plane are you?!" Spencer asked but then smiled. She was so grateful that Ashley had changed her mind about going and had chosen a humorous way to inform Spencer of such. She thought she only reconsidered because Spencer probably had quilted her into it though.

"Spewencer," she looked at Ashley and realized she was still silencing the girl and pulled her hand away," Don't worry about it, I really do want to go." Ashley smiled and laced a hand through the other girls. They made their way downstairs; halfway down Glen stared at the two with a disgusted look.

"Spencer you need to stop doing that, Grandma and Grandpa don't need to see that," he said but focused his glare on Ashley who returned it when she felt Spencer tense up. She knew that every time the blonde spoke with her brother it reminded her of what he did and what happened.

"Glen shut the hell up," Ashley rolled her eyes and shoved Glen aside as she and Spencer continued down the stairs.

"Where are you two headed?" Paula asked with a smile. Ashley never felt easy around the women, even though she was extremely nice as hell. Maybe it was just the whole not trusting parents issue she always had.

"To Ashley's to pick up her stuff, we'll be back soon. It's okay that she stays the night right? So she doesn't have to drive back and forth," Spencer finally spoke up. The front door opened and Ben walked in looking exhausted. After placing a kiss on Paula's cheek he immediately went upstairs. Spencer found that she still flinched when Ben kissed her mother, it just didn't feel right to her. She missed her dad so much.

"Of course dear, you two hurry back. Dinner should be ready soon," Paula smiled once more then watched the girls go. She made sure the door was locked for safety then made her way upstairs. Walking into one of the bedrooms she closed the door behind her.

"We need to talk honey."


	12. Chapter 12

After Spencer and Ashley got back to the Carlin household they had a nice, quiet, awkward dinner which consisted of Paula and Ben trying far too hard to lighten the mood and Ashley continuing to throw death glares at Glen. Spencer tried her best to make conversation and poor Clay was stuck in the middle of it all.

Ashley finished first and after discreetly kicking Glen in the shins she went to check if she had everything packed. Spencer finished eating soon afterwards and walked into the living room to find Ashley crashed out on the couch. A smile appeared on the blonde's face as she walked over to the sleeping girl.

Sitting on the carpet in front of Ashley she gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. Sighing, Spencer brought her hand to the girl's lips, softly tracing them with her fingers. Eyes suddenly met eyes and a soft kiss was placed on her fingertips as Ashley woke up with a smile.

"Would you two cut it out already, we're getting ready to go so stop being disgusting and help us out," Glen's voice ripped through their moment and both sent him the angriest glares they could. Scoffing he continued on his way without a second thought. They loaded up the car and packed inside, needless to say the ride to the airport wasn't pleasant either.

The airport was creepy at this time of night or so Spencer thought. She had a death grip on Ashley's hand the second they exited the car. This made it difficult for the brunette to keep hold of her bags but she found a way. Keeping Spencer's hand firmly in her own the two followed Paula and Ben as they checked in. Glen and Clay were behind parking the car and unloading the last of their bags.

"Next time, we're going in a separate car. Please tell me your grandparents have a decent size house, I don't think I can stand being that close to your family ever again," Ashley groaned as she sat herself down in a seat next to the window. Spencer dropped her carry on bag down on the ground and took a seat next to Ashley. She smirked seeing Ashley pull out a white Nintendo DS, the pokemon theme music soon blared through the small speakers.

_Adorable…_

"We won't be crammed closely together like we were in the car, don't worry about it," Spencer answered but Ashley had already lost herself in the game. Laughing at the sight Spencer moved a bit closer to her and whispered," And lucky us, we get a room to ourselves…"

"Ah, that's cool Spence…"

"A room with one bed…"

"Sweet, sweet…damn how is it I only have three pokeballs left…" Spencer held in her laughter as she moved even closer to the brunette. Ashley froze when she felt Spencer's breath on her ear.

"So uh Ash…how's that game, fun?" Spencer smirked seeing Ashley tremble slightly. She didn't know what had possessed her to do this but she loved the reaction she was getting from Ashley.

"Uh d..wha…"

"Excuse me…" Spencer quickly moved away from Ashley as a third voice entered their conversation, looking around she found a small child standing in front of them, she was addressing Ashley.

"Hey Ashley, the kid wants you," Spencer nudged her softly and only laughed more as she saw her come out of her daze and face the small child.

"Um…yeah?" Ashley looked at her then to Spencer who shrugged.

"Battle me!" Ashley stared at the girl, then looked around at the people walking around the airport. Had no one noticed their child had gone missing and was now talking to a total stranger? What kind of parent-

"Hey you, I know you're old so you're kinda hard of hearing but I said battle me!" Ashley's jaw visibly dropped while Spencer placed a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter, it didn't help very much. Looking at Spencer with a shocked expression then back at the little girl she tried her best to keep calm.

"Look kid, get lost. I don't have time to play with amatuers," Ashley scoffed then returned to playing her own ds.

"More like you're afraid you'll lose to a little girl, hag." A mist of water suddenly escaped Spencer's mouth as that last word left the child's mouth, the blonde was now hysterically laughing.

"Oh that's it kid...you're on!"

An hour later they were on the plane and Ashley was in full pout mode. She and Spencer sat in the front row, Glen and Clay sat behind them followed by Paula and Ben in the back. The plane was full but luckily whoever was supposed to occupy the seats next to Spencer and Ashley had not shown up yet.

"Aw Ashley come on, it's really not that bad."

"She cheated."

"How exactly do you cheat in pokemon?"

"That dirty little whore!"

"She's only eleven!"

The flight attendants walked by to make sure everything was set and secure, they would be taking off soon. Spencer remembered her last time on a plane, the nervous feeling she got. Why now of all times did she remember, she hated flying.

"She cheated!" Ashley whined once more as she crossed both of her hands over her chest.

"You just don't want to admit to losing to a kid," Spencer teased as she moved to take Ashley's hand. She would need it as the flight prepared to take off. Still pouting Ashley refused to take her hand.

"...you laughed at me..." the pout on that face could make anyone melt.

"Aww poor baby is that what this is about? I only laughed cause you looked so cute," Spencer smiled but Ashley continued to have her arms crossed. Sighing Spencer leaned into her seat as the plane started to move, her hands started to tightly grib the handles on the seats. 

As the plane started to go faster it rocked a bit and Spencer closed her eyes. Seconds after she did she felt a hand pry her own away from the handle and soon laced themselves with hers. Not opening her eyes she smiled and relaxed as Ashley's voice rocked her to sleep.

"You're everything...and I'll be right here. And I'll stay right here, and I'll be right here..."


	13. Chapter 13

Apart from the moments where Glen walked by them and glared the rest of the flight went smoothly. Having Ashley there holding her hand made things so much better. This was her first time back to Ohio since the _incident_ and having Ashley there with her made her feel so much safer. She didn't know what would happen when they got there, after the trial Spencer never saw Patrick again.

Reliving that night in front of everyone in that courtroom, especially her family and friends who were there to support her, was one of the hardest things she could had to do. She didn't want them there, didn't want them to hear about how he ripped her clothes to shreds, how his hands weren't gentle and clawed at her as he forced her on the bed, how he beat her over and over until she promised never to tell what happened.

Her mother started crying and screaming hysterically halfway through, she had attempted to attack Patrick but the court officers got to her before anything happened. She had to be escorted out of the room. And all through this Patrick sat there, smiling.

Like the bastard had done nothing wrong.

Like he wasn't afraid of what would happen to him. He was found guilty on all charges, but it brought Spencer no peace. His smile still remained as the officers cuffed him and dragged him out of the room.

"_I'll see you later."_

Even now those words still haunted her. They woke her up halfway through the flight, Ashley calmed her down and she immediately fell back asleep. Ashley's arms were now wrapped protectively around her. Slipping in and out of sleep she always heard Ashley's voice.

She was singing.

It was beautiful.

Spencer spent most of the car ride to her grandmothers trying to remember the song but couldn't. She told herself she'd ask Ashley about it later.

"I always imagined Ohio as a farm town place, guess not," the brunette said as she grabbed her bags from the rental car. Rolling her eyes Spencer grabbed her things and started walking towards the house. It was a regular sized place in a quiet and calm part of town.

"Grandma, open the door," Glen whined as he dropped the suitcase he was carrying. Spencer heard Ashley call him weak and laughed when the two of them went at it again.

"You did tell your mother what time our flight got in and that we'd be coming didn't you?" Ben asked as he rang the doorbell once more. Paula sighed and put her bags down as well.

"Of course I called her; she said she'd be ready for us by the time we got here. I can't believe her; she's probably wasting more time playing those games. Someone her age shouldn't be doing something so childish," she frowned and walked over to the windows to see if she could see inside. Spencer sighed knowing standing here would just be a waste of their time. Dropping her bags on the ground she started to walk towards the backyard. A small window to the basement was open, as it always was.

After the trial her mother went into overprotective mode, which really you can't blame her for, and kept Spencer indoors at all times. There was always someone with her and she rarely got any privacy. Paula always kept pushing and pushing for Spencer to open up to everyone but the only two people Spencer would talk to at the time was her grandmother and occasionally her father. This was because they were the only two who treated her normally, who didn't remind her every chance they got that she was a victim.

Seeing that she had no time to think and be by herself Spencer's grandmother came up with a way to give Spencer her much needed freedom. One night the family was visiting and Spencer and her grandmother were in the basement.

_After a heated hour of playing halo, Grandma Carlin was of course victorious, they decided it was time for bed. Before going upstairs she walked over to the window and opened it, saying something about wanting to let some fresh air come in. She gave Spencer a look and simply walked away. After that night she always left the window open, Spencer would always get out and come back before anyone would wake up. _

_Sharon Woods. It was a five minute walk from her house and was easy to sneak into. She spent all of her nights there, by the lake. Here she heard no one but herself; she could get her thoughts in order. It was the only place she felt at peace, safe. She knew only one other thing, or rather person could make her feel this way and she was nowhere to be found. She needed her so bad, but no matter how many times she came here she knew, Ashley would never be here. Ashley was gone, and she was alone. _

"Spence wait up, that was cruel you know? Leaving me standing there alone with Glen, you know he doesn't li-" Ashley whined as she rounded the corner then stopped dead in her tracks. Spencer was slowly climbing through the window head first which gave Ashley a pleasant view of her butt.

"Ash…stop staring at my ass," Spencer giggled knowing exactly what had made the other girl stop talking.

"I'm not!" Ashley lied but blushed anyways.

"Ah so _you're_ Ashley Davies," a voice suddenly appeared behind her and Ashley jumped at it and turned around to meet the source.


End file.
